# Neo-Andean Architecture (Cholets)

> The facades and party halls of El Alto, Bolivia, begun by the Aymara builder-architect Freddy Mamani in 2005 for a new Aymara merchant class. A tall block stacks shops, a salón de eventos, rental flats and the owner's rooftop chalet behind one symmetrical front of Andean crosses, diagonal planes, circles and sweeping curves drawn from Tiwanaku carving, in fluorescent colours taken from awayo cloth and set with reflective tinted glass. Ballrooms add colour gradients, LED lines, chandeliers and stained glass; recent cholets add giant pop-culture figures.

- Period: 2005–present
- Where: Latin America & Caribbean
- Origin: El Alto, Bolivia (also northern La Paz and Cochabamba), where the Aymara builder-architect Freddy Mamani Silvestre finished his first neo-Andean building in 2005 (commissioned 2002) for Aymara merchant clients
- Branch: Traditions & vernacular
- Also known as: Neo-Andean, Nueva arquitectura andina, Cholets, Arquitectura cholet, Arquitectura cohetillo, Freddy Mamani style
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/neo-andean-cholet/

## Use it with care

Neo-Andean architecture is the living work of named Aymara builders, makers and their clients in El Alto, and its chakana, Tiwanaku, Pachamama and awayo motifs carry Aymara identity and ritual meaning. Credit Freddy Mamani and the other makers by name, among them facade sculptors such as Ramiro Sirpa. Do not pass the motifs off as generic 'Inca' decoration, and do not use the look as a joke about kitsch or new money: its owners built it after decades of contempt for Indigenous migrants. 'Cholet' joins chalet with cholo, a word long used as a slur against people of Indigenous origin (though some in Bolivia now reclaim it), and Mamani does not much like the label, so call the style Neo-Andean or new Andean architecture.

## How it works

- Treat the whole street front as one symmetrical panel: fold the composition about a central axis and repeat every motif left and right.
- Build the ornament from Andean geometry: stepped chakana crosses, interlocking diagonal planes and circles, with Tiwanaku condors, pumas and serpents as accents, and set cornered straight lines against sweeping curves (chacha-warmi, the masculine and feminine pairing read in Tiwanaku ruins).
- Paint in fluorescent, clashing polychrome taken from Aymara awayo cloth so the building stands out against the bare brick around it.
- Stack the front in horizontal registers, one for each use (shops at street level, the ballroom, rental flats, the owner's chalet on the roof), and tie them into one ornamental composition that rises to a crowning top piece.
- Light the inside as a show of wealth: colour gradients across the walls, lines like electronic circuits over the walls and LED light across the ceilings, mirrored walls, imported chandeliers and floor-to-ceiling coloured glass.
- Design each building with its owner: choose the main colours together, and let its symbols speak for the owner's trade, fiesta or hobby, from a haulier's truck, Carnival masks and the Ekeko to a ship or a giant Transformer, so the motif set is shared but every building is personal.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (defining)
- [Diagonal axis](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagonal-axis/) (characteristic)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (defining)
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (characteristic)
- [Illusion of depth](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/illusion-of-depth/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (occasional)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (defining)
- [Fluorescent & neon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/fluorescent-and-neon/) (defining)
- [Complementary clash](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/complementary-clash/) (characteristic)
- [Gradients](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/gradients/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)

### Form & shape
- [Angular & zigzag](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/angular-and-zigzag/) (defining)
- [Rectilinear](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rectilinear/) (characteristic)
- [Geometric primitives](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-primitives/) (characteristic)
- [Non-representational](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/non-representational/) (characteristic)
- [Biomorphic curves](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/biomorphic-curves/) (characteristic)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Gloss & highlights](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/gloss-and-highlights/) (characteristic)
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Abundant decoration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/abundant-decoration/) (defining)
- [Geometric tessellation](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-tessellation/) (defining)
- [Folk & sacred symbols](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/folk-and-sacred-symbols/) (characteristic)
- [Floral & vegetal](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/floral-and-vegetal/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Pattern & repeat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pattern-and-repeat/) (characteristic)
- [Found & vernacular imagery](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/found-and-vernacular-imagery/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Architecture & signage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/architecture-and-signage/) (defining)

### Tone & intent
- [Luxurious & glamorous](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/luxurious-and-glamorous/) (defining)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (defining)
- [Technological & futurist](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/technological-and-futurist/) (characteristic)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (characteristic)
- [Spiritual & sacred](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/spiritual-and-sacred/) (occasional)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (occasional)

Avoids: Ornament-free, Generous white space, Earth & mineral, Monochrome, Dynamic asymmetry, Calm & contemplative

Palette: #e6007e, #8cd317, #00a7c8, #ff8c00, #ffd800, #2f4f4a

Typefaces: No lettering tradition of its own is documented; for graphics, draw angular, stepped display capitals from the facade's chakana and diagonal-plane geometry, Heavy geometric sans capitals cut from flat panels, like the facade's own planes, for a salón's name in Aymara or Spanish, Chicha-poster hand lettering (Peru's Andean migrant printers) for fiesta and event announcements beside cholet geometry

Known for: Freddy Mamani Silvestre's buildings in El Alto, from his first neo-Andean building (commissioned 2002, finished 2005) to more than 100 built by his family firm CONSTEC-MJ (Sixty Six Magazine, 2018); Freddy Mamani's ballroom opening the exhibition Géométries Sud, du Mexique à la Terre de Feu, Fondation Cartier, Paris (14 October 2018 to 24 February 2019); Isaac Niemand, Cholet: The Work of Freddy Mamani (documentary, 2018, on his more than 60 salas de eventos in El Alto); Heinz Emigholz, Mamani in El Alto (documentary, 2022), on Mamani buildings of 2008–2021; Elisabetta Andreoli and Ligia D'Andrea, La arquitectura de Freddy Mamani Silvestre (La Paz, 2013 per Wikipedia, 2014 per the AA School), cited in English as Andean Architecture of Bolivia; Crucero de los Andes, El Alto, an 11-storey cholet crowned by a ship, created by its owners Víctor Choque and Domy Flores with Freddy Mamani (Voz de América, 2024)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Andean Woven Graphic Systems](https://stylogeny.com/styles/andean-woven-graphics.md) (c. 600–present)
- Alike in its design choices: [Ndebele Geometric Painting](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ndebele-painting.md) (1940–present), 61% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Pakistani Truck Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/pakistani-truck-art.md) (1947–present), 59% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Guna Mola](https://stylogeny.com/styles/guna-mola.md) (1900–present), 56% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Soviet Central Asian Ornamental Modernism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/soviet-central-asian-modernism.md) (1966–1999), 54% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Islamic Geometric & Calligraphic Tradition](https://stylogeny.com/styles/islamic-geometric.md) (c. 690–present), 53% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Jeepney Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/jeepney-art.md) (1946–present), 52% alike

## Sources

- Wikipedia, 'Freddy Mamani (architect)', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddy_Mamani_(architect) (Andreoli: Mamani 'uses the Andean cross, the diagonal juxtaposition of the planes, the duplicity, the repetition, the circle'; colours of the awayo shawls; further reading: Andreoli and D'Andrea, La arquitectura de Freddy Mamani Silvestre, La Paz: El Alto, 2013)
- Wikipedia, 'Neo-Andean', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Andean_architecture (first building commissioned 2002, finished 2005; 'a harmony of cornered straight lines representing the masculine and curves representing the feminine prominent in Tiwanaku ruins known as the chacha-warmi'; palette from traditional Aymara fabrics; cholet 'a portmanteau of cholo and chalet')
- Wikipedia (Spanish), 'Cholet (arquitectura)', https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholet_(arquitectura) (cholo + chalet; facade symbolism tied to 'aficiones, tradiciones y experiencias vividas de cada dueño'; aves, pumas y cóndores; montañas, relámpagos y flores)
- Wikipedia, 'Cholo', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholo ('an insult in some South American countries'; 'used as a racial slur towards people of Indigenous origin'; in Bolivia 'originally derogatory' and now 'more of a symbol of Indigenous power')
- Juan Diego Quesada, 'Los cholets, las casas de la nueva burguesía boliviana', El País (2021), reprinted by Arquitectura Viva, 10 November 2021: https://arquitecturaviva.com/articulos/los-cholets-las-casas-de-la-nueva-burguesia-boliviana ('colores chillones'; 'vidrieras hasta el techo y lámparas de araña'; 'el desprecio de los capitalinos')
- La Nación (Costa Rica), ''Cholets', la nueva arquitectura boliviana, símbolo de la opulencia aymara', 28 March 2015: https://www.nacion.com/el-mundo/conflictos/cholets-la-nueva-arquitectura-boliviana-simbolo-de-la-opulencia-aymara/7WFETMHJ4ZEY5EZVE4JKS6JUMU/story/ ('A Mamani no le gusta mucho el término Cholet'; 'paredes de colores fluorescentes'; 'policromía de colores en degradé')
- Marco Villca, 'Freddy Mamani', Sixty Six Magazine, 26 December 2018: https://sixtysixmag.com/freddy-mamani/ ('constructed over 100 buildings'; CONSTEC – MJ; first major work in 2005; clients settle 'the quality of the materials and the principle colors'; 'I've always been inspired by the ruins of Tiwanaku')
- Marcelo Guardia Crespo, 'La mirada al futuro de los cholets', Los Tiempos, 25 April 2024: https://www.lostiempos.com/actualidad/opinion/20240425/columna/mirada-al-futuro-cholets ('La simetría y el equilibrio son rasgos fundamentales de sus fachadas'; 'Vidrios Ray-Ban'; lines like electronic circuits on the walls and LED lighting on the ceilings; the word cholet 'tiene un aire peyorativo por insinuar que se trata de chalets de cholos')
- Fabiola Chambi, Voz de América, 14 January 2024: https://www.vozdeamerica.com/a/cholets-arquitectura-bolivia-/7436849.html (Crucero de los Andes: 11 floors, a ship on top, owners Víctor Choque and Domy Flores, 'una creación junto al arquitecto Fredy Mamani', floors for Carnival masks, the Alasita and the Ekeko, and Tiahuanaco; some cholets 'responden a aficiones de los dueños': Iron Man, Transformers, Bumblebee, Statue of Liberty; a Volvo truck for owners who were hauliers; Ramiro Sirpa, self-taught maker of the giant figures)
- AP via Fox News, 'Bolivia Sees Explosion In 'Neo-Andean' Architecture', 23 May 2014: https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/bolivia-sees-explosion-in-neo-andean-architecture ('The condor, serpent and the Andean cross'; 'Chandeliers come from Iran, Italy and Spain'; 'Mirrored walls, columns and sumptuous arcs'; 60 built in El Alto and 20 under construction; about 120 across Bolivia)
- Dan Howarth, 'Freddy Mamani's New Andean Architecture adds colour to Bolivian city', Dezeen, 7 February 2019: https://www.dezeen.com/2019/02/07/freddy-mamani-new-andean-architecture-bolivia/ ('mountains, lightning, animals and flowers'; 'floral motifs form ceiling plates for modern chandeliers'; Tiwanaku 'translated into symmetrical forms'; colours from Aymara women's woven textiles)
- Nicolás Valencia, 'Why Freddy Mamani is Leading A New Andean Architecture', ArchDaily, 25 November 2017: https://www.archdaily.com/883951/why-freddy-mamani-is-leading-a-new-andean-architecture (Andreoli and D'Andrea's book as 'Andean Architecture of Bolivia')
- AA School, 'Salones de Eventos: Freddy Mamani Silvestre': https://pr2015.aaschool.ac.uk/EXHIBITIONS/Salones-De-Eventos---Freddy-Mamani-Silvestre (Andreoli, 'The Architecture of Freddy Mamani Silvestre (La Paz, 2014)')
- Arte al Día, review of Géométries Sud at the Fondation Cartier, 21 November 2018: https://www.artealdia.com/Reviews/FONDATION-CARTIER-GEOMETRIES-SUD-DU-MEXIQUE-A-LA-TERRE-DE-FEU
- e-flux, 'Southern Geometries, from Mexico to Patagonia', Fondation Cartier, 14 October 2018 to 24 February 2019: https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/228173/southern-geometries-from-mexico-to-patagonia ('The exhibition opens with a spectacular ballroom designed by ... Freddy Mamani'; buildings that 'stand apart from the ordinary brick architecture of the region')
- Mike Gatehouse, Latin America Bureau, 19 June 2019, on Isaac Niemand's film Cholet (August 2018, one hour; salas de eventos 'over 60 in number'): https://lab.org.uk/?p=16560
- Mamani in El Alto (Heinz Emigholz, Germany 2022, 95 min), film listing: https://kulturserver-nrw.de/en_EN/films/21311 (buildings of 2008 to 2021; snake-like, jewel-like facades)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Neo-Andean Architecture (Cholets)”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/neo-andean-cholet/